Transplant Services

The Alan G. Birtch, MD, Center for Transplant Services

Every year, more than 28,000 men, women and children receive life-saving organ transplants (pancreas and kidney transplant) according to UNOS, United Network for Organ Sharing. We are proud to say our Pancreas and Kidney Transplant Program and Surgery Services contributes to the thousands of people who benefit from pancreas and kidney transplant surgery.

Transplant Program History

For nearly 40 years, the pancreas and kidney transplant program and surgery services at Memorial Medical Center (Springfield, Illinois) has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of patients and their loved ones. The program was founded in 1972 by Dr. Alan Birtch, Professor Emeritus of Surgery at Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine, and has provided more than 800 kidney and combined kidney/pancreas transplants to date.

This video was created as a tribute to our hospital-wide commitment to organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Information is from 2009-2012. Interviews are of Memorial Medical Center patients, however not everyone pictured was treated at Memorial Medical Center.

Some of the information presented in this transplant surgery services site is from UNOS, the National Kidney Foundation and/or Genentech USA, Inc., all highly credible resources for transplant information. For more information, or to receive a free education DVD entitled "A New Beginning: Planning for Your Transplant Journey", please call the Memorial Pancreas and Kidney Transplant Program and Surgery Services at 217-788-3441 or toll free at 888-864-9433.